Friday, December 11, 2015

Fleet Friday: Two New Destroyers in Port

I'll be taking this in reverse order, as I just acquired the Fubuki last night and have only played two matches in it. But it was the only one of my two new destroyers for which I could get a picture.

The real Fubuki class destroyers actually preceded the Hatsuharu class destroyers, but in many ways they were far ahead of their time. They had turreted guns at a time when other navies were still using gun shields, and their loading system was automated rather than manual. They saw extensive service in World War II and performed with distinction, though 21 of the 23 that entered the war (one of the 24 originally built sank in 1934 after a collision with another ship) were lost. The original Fubuki was sank during the Battle of Cape Esperance (along with the Furutaka, Aoba and Murakumo) with the loss of 78 men from a complement of 187 at the time of the battle. These casualties included her Captain, Lieutenant Commander Shizuo Yamashita,

What is there to say about the Fubuki in World of Warships that hasn't already been said? This ship is a destroyer captain's dream. She's fast, though not more so than her contemporaries in other Navies. But she is stealthier than most, with a surface detection range of only 6.1 kilometers after all upgrades, including camo and Concealment, giving her a 3.9 kilometer buffer from which to sow mayhem.

And less you think my salvo a hazard to that North Carolina, he was already heavily damaged by the opposing North Carolina (and others behind us.) We sortied down the slot to the oppositions cap. :P Our North Carolina was soon finished by the Atalanta's torps whose wakes you see in front of our North Carolina. The Atlanta ran itself aground and my torp salvo delivered a Devastating Strike in retribution to go with the three hits I'd had a minute before against their North Carolina. I just felt compelled to put that screenshot in context. ;-)

Besides the three triple torpedo launchers, the four guns in two turrets are also now bad. They are perhaps the first not bad guns on a Japanese destroyer. They are still somewhat slow to turn, but have decent range and rate of fire compared to what I am used too. And even in this game, which was ultimately a loss through attrition (gg!) I still had a positive balance of 110,906 credits even with the complete loss of the ship while defending our cap. Yes, I think this ship will do nicely.

But that was not the first new destroyer I purchased this week. As threatened, I have begun the Russian destroyer tree. The first destroyer in that tree is the Storozhevoi. I find that I really, really like this ship. He's fast, nimble and stealthy with a 5.6 kilometer surface detection range.

If you hold your fire until detected, your first strike is practically guaranteed to heavily damage opposing destroyers even though you only have three guns. Remember, at these tiers they don't have any more. And the Storozhevoi is so nimble, you can easily swing your ship to bring all guns to bear and then swing back to a narrower exposure to enemy fire. And the rate of fire on these guns are awesome. At 12 rounds a minute, you can definitely keep someones attention. The one drawback to the Storozhevoi's guns are they are only 105 millimeter guns. You may as well be using spit wads against protected and armored cruiser. And they certainly will not be sending spit wads back at you. If confronted, us your smoke and fire HE. Low tier cruisers burn easily, and you can keep several fires lit on them as they charge you. Once they charge, you can use your other weapon.

Russian torpedoes are universally panned for only having a range of 3.0 kilometers. And they're slow at only 45 knots. And they only do a maximum of 6133 damage. Okay, they really are terrible torpedoes. I had to put six into a full health South Carolina and did not sink it immediately, though she flooded out soon enough as the six were delivered in two salvos with enough time in between to insure the repair was already used. I even survived that encounter, only having been set in fire once by secondaries and completely missed by the South Carolina's main guns because terrible dispersion.

But back the the terrible Russian torpedoes. Against a cruiser they will save your life. Hide in your smoke. Make the cruiser come get you. At two kilometers they will detect you, but at that range you cannot miss with your torpedoes. If you have hardened steal gonads, you can even close the range if you like. You can survive, just as I did with the South Carolina above, but not always. This is for all intents and purposes a desperation move.

You can also use the ambush successfully against cruisers. The Storozhevoi cannot be detected behind small islands of some height. Use cover and concealment to your advantage, and their determent. You'll see them long before they see you. Set up your launch, wait for it, launch and then back around a corner without showing a broadside. Resist the urge to charge out and torpedo them. Once you're in the open your odds are not so good. Cruisers always seem to have friends. But if you can launch and take cover, even partial, your tubes have a super fast reload and you'll be able to fire again in no time should your first salvo miss. Alternately, only fire on of your launchers and keep the other for after the commit to evasive. Once hard over, they won't come back any time soon thereafter. No guts no glory, right?

The last think I'll say about the Storozhevoi is I decided to use it to level up my Russian destroyer captain. The Derzki is no better than the Storozhevoi from what I can tell, and it'll get placed into higher tier battles where it won't fair as well as the Storozhevoi where it's at. I've totally upgraded the Storozhevoi and it doesn't have to contend with scout planes. That said, I've already managed Superintendent for my Captain, and it's a long haul to Last Stand. I'd love to hold out until the Gnevny and it's 130 millimeter guns, but I don't know. I just bought a Fubuki. :/ Maybe I should by a Tirpitz as a Christmas present to myself and using it to train up my Russian destroyer captain. (EDIT 12.12.15: Learned something last night about that last sentence, so you don't have to tell me. *wink* ) Ho ho ha! What? You didn't know it's on sale again? Only $66.99 for a limited time! *grin* I wonder if all my Fubuki matches will be filled with Tirpitz again? Oy.